Just a friendly reminder, a word to the wise: the actions of our fellow human beings should NOT be interpreted in the worst possible light.

It would appear that some individuals, not necessarily on this forum, need reminding of this.

Now some actions HAVE no benign or "charitable" interpretation. For example, Bishop Fellay selling out the SSPX. Or Pope Francis uttering all the shocking heresies he has uttered in the past. Or, I don't know... putting an apostate with a fixation on the devil in charge of your seminarians on a regular basis -- even when said apostate has scandalized many seminarians by showing them books, websites, etc. that offend against Catholic morality and decency.

Such evils must be called out and fought against. In such cases, focusing on the "good" in these individuals is like focusing on the working air conditioning in a car with no engine. It's great that the car has a working radio, but since the engine is completely gone, the car is still going to be smashed into a cube and thrown in a blazing furnace all the same.

It is NOT reasonable to defend an abortionist who has killed 10,000 babies, saying, "He makes the best chili I've ever tasted!" That's great, but I'm pretty sure the evil of murdering babies far outweighs his culinary contributions to society.

That sounds ridiculous, but I've actually heard a defense which is equally ridiculous -- on more than one occasion. Defense #1: "He's still a soul to be saved. He needs our help and Catholic influence." Defense #2: "He's another St. Augustine ...err, before his conversion!"

Newsflash, Einstein: finding "before" pictures of obese men is easy. Just go to Wal-mart any hour of the day! The trick is finding men who were obese and then managed to get down to their ideal weight. THAT is why before/after pictures are impressive. "Before" pictures -- without an "after" picture -- are a dime a dozen in today's obese America!

Ditto for wicked men. Wicked men are a dime a dozen in 2016! Call me up when one of these wicked man actually converts, or even shows signs of conversion. Then we'll talk. Until then, don't compare them to St. Augustine! He was special precisely because he became a great saint after being a great sinner.

But allowing a great sinner to run loose, corrupting seminarians, students, the young, etc. because "he's a soul that Christ died for" or "he could theoretically convert, and be like St. Augustine!" is total madness!

We are not expected to turn off our brains. Sometimes you have a genuine danger to the Faith, someone who must be avoided for the good of our souls, or an evil which threatens the public good.

But many actions could be interpreted in a negative light by enemies filled with hate, while easily explained in a benign manner by those filled with the love of God. For example, Our Lord (who is Goodness itself) cured the sick. But the Pharisees, who hated Him, most blasphemously claimed that He worked miracles by the power of the devil!

Another example: a Traditional priest is starting one or more Mass centers. He receives donations. He is a priest; donations are how he is able to run an apostolate of any kind. He accepts the generous offerings of the Faithful remnant. Oh, and the Government requires a not-for-profit organization to file with the government, keep records, etc. if they want the important benefits of A) not paying federal taxes themselves, and B) allowing their donors to deduct their contributions as a tax write-off. No problems there, right? WRONG. Some would claim that the running of a "non-profit corporation", or a mere financial statement showing the income of said priest is a smoking gun of sorts -- somehow proving that this priest is running a "business" rather than an apostolate. Especially if the priest takes in more than, say, $2500 a month or what it would reasonably cost that priest to pay for his own personal expenses (what about his apostolate? Hello? Insurance, when you run a school for example, is super expensive).

Ridiculous! If this priest weren't taking donations, and didn't try to set up Mass centers, these same hypocrites would loudly accuse him of sitting on his hind end and doing nothing to help souls during this Crisis in the Church (and Crisis in the SSPX). And let's face it, the Faithful need every tax deduction they can get in this world. But to deduct your charitable contributions legally, the organization you donated to must be a 501.3(c) non-profit corporation. Yes, that means Clerics (priests, even bishops) have to mess with government red tape, and set up  corporation(s) of sorts.

But just because Fr. X sets up a 501.3(c) non-profit corporation doesn't make him Monsanto or Exxon, nor does it make him partake in the sins of for-profit corporations worldwide! And it certainly doesn't make him a "businessman". But to hear the language of some people, they actually imply that it does mean exactly that.

And another word to the wise: a SINGLE OLD COUPLE who is impressed by a given priest could merely donate their estate to a priest, and BOOM that priest received an income of $250,000. Think that is crazy? Guess again. The Baby Boomers oversaw the largest real estate boom in history. In places like the United States and England, for example, an average middle class couple could have bought a home 40 years ago for $15,000, and today it would be worth $200,000 or more. The situation is similar in many European countries. The stock market (heavily manipulated by Fed money-printing and buying up of stocks with free Monopoly money) has also seen a meteoric rise over the past 50 years. What if just one aged widow or widower decided to donate their estate to a priest? We're talking some serious moolah.

But such is the language of hatred: when you hate someone, they can do no right. When you hate someone, they're damned if they do, and damned if they don't.

Oh, how I wish that the only problem with Bishop Fellay (for example) was the size of his bank account, or some other innocuous matter! How I would love for there to be no more Crisis in the SSPX. No compromises with Vatican 2, no cօռspιʀαcιҽs, no "stacking the deck" putting cronies in all positions of power, no encroaching liberalism, no purges, no marginalizations, no changes in the seminaries.  And apologies/"welcome back" to all those faithful priests (and bishop!) who were forced in conscience to leave...

Yes sir, if the only thing I had on +Fellay was "he's had millions of dollars go through his hands" I'd go back to the SSPX this Sunday.